Material handling apparatus



Feb; 11, 1941. J. E. DCRAN MATERIAL HANDLING APPARATUS Filed May 26,19:59 3 sheets-shet 2 mi E1 INVENTOR dabmipomn ,umwwwww M W ATTORNEYSFeb.'1l, 1941' DQRAN 2,231,058

' MATERIAL HANDLING APPARATUS I Find May 26, 1939 v s Sheets-Sheet :s zn INVENTOR Patented Feb. 11, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 6 Claims.

This invention relates to material handling apparatus, particularly tomotor vehicles for collecting and disposing of ashes, garbage and Iother refuse, and has for an object the provision of improvements inthis art.

In the patent ;of William S. Howard, No.

2,101,067, there is disclosed a self-loading and dumping vehicle inwhich both the tiltingof the body and the raising of the body loadingbucket are controlled by a pair of long stroke pistons disposed incylinders on each side of the vehicle body, the pistons moving through agiven distance tooperate the bucket and a greater distance in the samedirection to operate the body.

According to the present invention the bucket operating and bodyoperating functions are divided between separate sets of pistons, oneset for operating the bucket and one set for operating the body. Thispermits the use of smaller pistons and cylinders and reduces the totalcost of construction considerably.'v In addition, the invention providessafety mechanism for insuring that the bucket will be raised clear ofthe rear door of the body before the body can be dumped.

The invention will be best understood from a description of anillustrative embodiment thereof given with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

Fig. l is a side perspective view of a self-loading dump truck embodyingthe present invention;

Fig. 2 is a schematic view of the hydraulic operating system;

Fig. 3 is a partial side elevation showing the 35 interlocking controldetails, with the body and bucket in lower position;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3, showing the bucket in raisedposition;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 3, showing both 40 the bucket and bodyin raised position;

Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a control valve in position foroperating the bucket hoist; and

Fig. 7 is a similar view with the valve in position for operating thebody hoist.

Referring to the drawings, a chassis l2 of a motor vehicle provided withpower take-off mechanism has a closed collection body I3 mounted to tiltabout aligned hinge journals It at the rear end.

The body is adapted to be loaded from the top and rear end and for thispurpose is provided with a top opening which is normally closed by acover l5 hingedat its front end and adapted to be automatically openedby a body loading bucket it when raised to dump material into the bodyopening.

The bucket i6 is carried by the rear ends of arms I! hinged to thesidesof the body at It. The bucket arms are operated by fluid power devicesor jacks l9 secured by pivots at the cylinder and piston ends to thebody and to crank arms 20 of the bucket arms respectively. Interactingmeans areprovided for opening the body cover l5 whc l the bucket israised.

The body is raised about its hinges M by a fluid power device or jack 23hinged at the cylinder end to the chassis and at the piston end to thebody.

As best indicated in Fig. 2, a pump 24 and fluid storage tank or sump 25are mounted on the chassis. The pump is driven when desired by powertake-off mechanism from the truck drive motor or in any other convenientmanner. The pump supplies fluid'through a pipe 26 to a three way valve21 by which it may be-selectively supplied either to the bucketcylinders through a pipe 28 or to the body cylinder through the pipe 29.The valve 21 is provided with an operating arm 30 for control in amanner to be described presently.

The pipe 28 is provided with branches 3] lead ing into the head end ofthe bucket cylinders. A return pipe 32, provided with branches 33connected to the head end of the bucket cylinders, leads to the storagetank 25. A hand valve 34, is placed in the pipe 32 for controlling theaction of the bucket when fluid is directed to its operating pistons bythe valve 21. When the valve is closed, fluid is retained in thecylinders until the pistons reach the end of their stroke to raise thebucket to its highest position. The pistons then uncover the ports ofbranches 35 of a relief return pipe 36, permitting fluid to flow throughthe cylinders back to the storage tank 25. When the valve 34 is opened,fluid is released at the head end of the cylinders and the bucketreturns by gravity to its lower position. The pipe 29 leads into thehead end of the body cylinder. A return pipe 38 leads from the head endof the body cylinder to the storage tank 25. This pipe is provided witha hand valve 39 for controlling the action of the body when fluid fromthe pump is directed to its operating piston by the valve 21. When thevalve 39 is closed, fluid is retained in the cylinders until the pistonreaches the end of its stroke to raisethe body to its maximum dumpingposition. The piston then uncovers the port of relief return pipe lll,permitting fluid to flow raised.

through the cylinder back to the storage tank 25. When the valve 39 isopened, fluid is re-' leased at the head end of the cylinder and thebodyreturns by gravity to its lower position.

As indicated in Fig. 2, the pipes 26, 29, 32, and 36 pass from thechassis to the body. Preferably they are extended back toward the hingeline of the body, represented by a broken line 42 in Fig. 2, andflexible connections 43 are placed in the pipes'to accommodate thetilting movements of the body; Fig. 2 is drawn as if the body wereturned completely upside down, i. e. through 180, so as to present itsnether parts uppermost in plan.

The outer ends of the body cylinders 23 and the bucket cylinders l9 alsohave considerable swinging movement. To accommodate this movement therelief return pipes 38 and 35 respectively thereof may be provided withflexible sections 44, 45, if desired.

Means are provided for operating the three way valve 21 whichselectively controls the flow of fluid from the pump to the bucket orbody operating cylinders. The preferred means for operating the valveare shown in Figs. 3 to 5. This provides that the body cannot be tiltedor the rear door opened until the bucket has been A latch operatinghandle 48 is mounted on a transverse shaft 49 at the front end of thebody and carries disc sectors 50. The shaft 49 carries a body latch 5|by which the front end of the body is held down'to a cross beam 52 ofthe chassis to prevent its tilting when empty by the over-balancingweight of a heavily loaded bucket.

Latches 53 for the rear door are connected to the disc sectors byoperating rods 54, the connection of the rods to the disc sectors beingsuch that the parts pass over the shaft center 49 and lock in closedposition.

To the crank arms 20 of .the bucket arms I! there is connected a detentlatch rod 56, the end of which cooperates with a notch 51 in the discsector 50. The pivot posts 58 on the arms 20 permit turning movement asnecessaryand stops 59 on the rods 56 produce the necessary movement ofthe rods as the bucket arms operate. The

loose motion thus provided insures that the bucket is in fully raisedposition before the latch handle 48 and related parts are released.

After the detent latch rods 56 are withdrawn from the notches 51 thehandle may be operated to release the door latches53 and to operate thethree-way valve 21 in a direction to stop the flow of pressure fluid tothe bucket raising cylinders I9 and admit fluid to the body raisingcylinder 23. This is accomplished by a rod 60 which is connect-edbetween the valve arm 30 and one of the body hold-down latches 5|.

Since the return flow valve 34 for the bucket cylinders is closed, as ithad to be to cause the bucket to be raised, fluid will be locked in thebucket cylinders when the three-way valve is turned to supply the bodycylinder, and the bucket will thus be locked in its uppermost position.The valve 34 is raised with the body and is beyond convenient reachuntil the body is again lowered by opening the body cylinder fluidreturn valve 39, whereby accidental release of the bucket during dumpingof the body is avoided. A check valve 82 may be placed in the supplyline from the pump to prevent back-flow even if the pump is stopped, asit may be while the vehicle is travelling for considerable distances.

It may be desirable to hold the bucket in upper position during suchtravel.

The operation will be undertsood from what has already been described.

While one embodiment of the invention has been described in detail inorder to illustrate the principles of the invention, it is to beunderstood that the invention -may have various embodiments within thelimits of the prior art and the scope of the subjoined claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. Apparatus for handling material, comprising in combination, achassis, a body tiltably mounted on the chassis, a loading bucketmounted on the body, a fluid operated power device mounted on the bodyfor operating said bucket, a second fluid operated power device mountedon the chassis for operating said body, a three-way valve on the bodyfor selectively supplying pressure fluid to said bucket or bodyoperating devices,

a shaft on the body for releasing a body latch and a body door latch andat the same time operating said three-way valve to shift the supply ofpressure fluid from the bucket operating device to the body operatingdevice, and interacting means for preventing the operation of said latchshaft until after the bucket has been raised to its upper position.

2. Apparatus for handling material, comprising in combination, achassis, a body tiltably mounted on the chassis, a loading bucketmounted on the body, a fluid operated power device mounted on the bodyfor operating said bucket, a second fluid operated power device mountedon the chassis for operating said body, a threeway valve on the body forselectively supplying pressure fluid' to said bucket or body operatingdevices, a shaft on the body for releasing a body latch and a body doorlatch and at the same time operating said three-way valve to shift thesupply of pressure fluid from the bucket operating device to the bodyoperating device, and interacting means for preventing the operation ofsaid latch shaft until after the bucket has been raised to itsupperposition, said means including a notched sector on said shaft and adetent rod therefor connected to the bucket operating parts.

3. Apparatus for handling material comprising in combination, a chassis,a body tiltably mounted on the chassis, a loading bucket mounted on armspivoted to the sides of the body near the front end to operate between alower position where it receives material and an upper position where itloads the material into the body, a fluid pressure jack on the chassisfor operating the body, and a separate and independent fluid pressurejack mounted on the body near the lower front end for operating thebucket, .and means for locking said bucket under fluid pressure in upperposition on the body.

4. Apparatus for handling material comprising in combination, a chassis,a body tiltably mounted on the chassis, a loading bucket mounted on armspivoted to the sides of the body near 20 Y 6. Apparatus for handlingmaterial comprising erating Jack for operating the bucket and forlooking it in any position. 1

5. Apparatus for handling material comprisin in combination, a chassis,a body tiltably mounted on the chassis, a loading bucket mounted on armspivoted to the sides of the body near the front end to operate between alower position where it receives material and an upper position where itloads the material into the body;

a fluid pressure jack on the chassis for operating the body, a separateand independent fluid pressure jack mounted on the body near the lowerfront end for operating the bucket, manual con-.

trol means for selectively causing the application of power fluid to thebucket operating jack for operating the bucket and looking it in anyposition, and manual control means for selectively causing theapplication of power fluid the body operating jack.

in combination; a chassis. a body tlltably mounted on the chassis, aloading bucket mounted on a pair of arms hinged to the body so as tooperate between a lower position where it receives material and an upperposition where it loads the material into the body, a fluid pressurejack on the chassis for operating the body, a fluid pressure jackmounted near the lower front end of. the body connected to an arm ioroperating the bucket, manual control means for selectively causing theapplication of power fluid to the bucket operating jack for operatingthe bucket and locking it in any position, manual control means forselectively causing the application of power fluid to the bodyoperatingjack, and interlocking manual control means for releasing fluid to saidbody operating jack when the bucket is in its uppermost position.

Jorm E. DORAN.

